Family, friends decry senseless death

Nov. 29, 2011

ASBURY PARK — The bright-eyed little girl with a puff of deep black curls atop her head had a warm smile, her family said, and had quickly became known as “the church baby” at Cathedral International, a red-brick church where her family worshipped south of Sunset Lake.

But too soon for anybody to fathom, the church baby, Tierra Morgan-Glover of Lakehurst, was carried out from that house of worship in a tiny white casket Monday afternoon, leaving behind a family reeling from the shock of her death: Tierra’s father, Arthur E. Morgan III, is charged with her murder and has yet to be caught.

The 2-year-old was found buckled into her car seat partially submerged in a Shark River Park stream in Wall last Tuesday afternoon by a group of teenagers, authorities said.

That has brought members of both sides of Tierra’s family, as well as friends, decidedly together in what many of them characterized as a double tragedy.

“We’re dealing with this loss and the loss of him,” said James Solomon, 33, a cousin to Morgan.

“There is no need for us to be here right now. I don't understand what would make him do it,” Solomon continued. “Whatever made this click is inexcusable, and he needs to turn himself in.”

In case he did, there were a half-dozen marked and unmarked police cars flanking the church where some 200 people paid respects to Tierra in a private viewing and service before she was buried at Ocean County Memorial Park in Toms River.

During a videotaped eulogy, Bishop Donald Hilliard Jr. told mourners that when “she was placed into that creek, an angel caught her. She did not suffer at all.”

An obituary prepared by the church called Tierra “a bright-eyed little girl with a warm smile.’’

“Because of Tierra’s delightful personality, she soon became ‘The Church Baby’ at Cathedral International of Asbury Park,” the obituary said. “Tierra was a talented and advanced 2-year-old. She enjoyed singing, loved mathematics, and was always eager to learn.”

Immediate family members did not speak during the service or talk afterward to reporters.

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But later, Tierra’s great-great-aunt, Mable D. Junior of Neptune, said the service was “beautiful” and put to rest her worries that the girl had suffered. Her cause of death was ruled “homicidal violence,” the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office said.

“I was just so uptight about everything. Now, I got a sense of peace and understanding,” Junior said. “She will live on forever. I’m at peace with that.”

Tierra’s mother, Imani Benton, 24, of Lakehurst, was visibly shaken before and after the ceremony. Wearing a white dress and purple heels, Benton rarely lifted her head and was supported by friends and relatives who locked arms with her as she made her way up and down the steps to the church.

Three people carried Tierra’s tiny coffin from the church. A minister followed with a large stuffed teddy bear.

When the back door of the black hearse was closed, a man in a white suit and purple tie put his forearms against the glass and pressed his face up to look in at the coffin

At Ocean County Memorial Park, teddy bears and flowers surrounded the coffin as mourners released dozens of white and purple balloons into the air in honor of the little girl following a graveside prayer.

Authorities from the Prosecutor’s Office, the FBI and U.S. Marshals have fanned out across the country in search of Arthur Morgan, 27, who was last seen at an Asbury Park train station platform the night his daugther was reported missing by Benton. Morgan, whose known address was in Eatontown, had picked up Tierra from Benton near her home in Lakehurst last Monday on a court-approved visit and was to return the girl that evening.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Monmouth County prosecutor's tip line at 800-533-7443.